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AGRICULTURAL SERIES N<? 15 AGRICULTURAL SERIES N9 15 

DNie SWES RAIIROAD ADMINISTRATION ONITED STATES RAILROAD ADMINISTRAflON 



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Messages from State Officials 



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FROM UTAH'S GOVERNOR 

Since the day the pioneers first turned the water 
upon the parched soil of the Salt Lake Valley, 
agriculture has been recognized as one of the chief 
industries of Utah. The development of the agri- 
cultural possibilities has been a source of wonder 
to those who have made a study of rural life in the 
United States. But the opportunities are not all 
gone. Although vast strides have been taken, the 
agricultural development of Utah is scarcely be- 
yond infancy. We have the climate, we have the 
soil and we are making the most of our water 
supply. 

In various parts of the State lands in various 
stages of cultivation may be obtained at reasonable 
figures. Then there are thousands of acres in the 
outlying section which are yet awaiting the arrival 
of the pioneer. 

As to educational facilities, I belie\"e I am cor- 
rect in saying that I'tah stands in the front rank. 
We are proud of our public school system. We 
welcome to our State loyal and liberty-loving men 
and women, especialh- the hard\- pioneer. 




Governor 



FROM UTAH'S INDUSTRIAL 
COMMISSIONER 

Agriculture in Utah flourishes under a great va- 
riety of conditions. Separated by only a few miles 
are stockmen whose stock grazes upon open ranges 
and farmers whose fertile acres are under cultiva- 
tion as intensive as the richer portions of the corn 
belt. Between these extremes there are all stages 
of pioneering and of development. 

Most of those engaged in agricultural pursuits 
live under conditions which make possible a high 



development of social and community life. Conse- 
quently, exceptional educational facilities and an 
unusual amount of co-operative efTort are found 
throughout the State. High schools are within 
reach of practically the entire population. The 
Agricultural College, ranking with the best in the 
country, is waiting for those who desire more 
training. Co-operative associations for buying, 
marketing, threshing, irrigation, etc., bring to the 
indi\'idual the advantage of united effort. 

The age of drudgery on the farm is past in Utah. 
The Utah farm of today is equipped with every 
modern convenience. Upon the larger farms plow- 
ing is done by gas or steam; grain is harvested by 
the combined harvester and hauled to market by 
auto trucks; and the light automobile is extensively 
used for convenience and pleasure. The housewife 
of the urban farm does her cooking, washing, sew- 
ing, etc., b\- clectricit>-, thus making her work a 
pleasure. 

The further agricultural development of the 
State will show the same di\ersity as the present. 
The range of opportunites should make Utah very 
attractive to any who wish to change to a locality 
with a better climate or different conditions. The 
greatest need of Utah today is people. Our popu- 
lation is entirely too small for the great undeveloped 
resources that are here. The people of Utah wel- 
come homeseekers and ha\-e always extended the 
hand of comradeship to newcomers. We are always 
glad to do everything possible to inform the people 
concerning our State and are not only willing, but 
anxious, to co-operate with the L^nited States Rail- 
road Administration in the development of this 
advantageous section. 







of e. 

12 1920 



Ciiairnuin. Iiulu>trial Commission 
of Utali 




Home of Utah's Agricultural College 



By DR. E. G. PETERSON 
President of Utah Agricultural College 




A ONE HITNDRED per cent increase in the 
population, production and prosperity of the 
western mountain states is not beyond the 
reach of possibility within the next two or three 
decades. Such a prediction is based mainly upon 
the immediate accessibility, under Government pat- 
ronage, of vast supplies of irrigation water not yet 
impounded, the extensiv^e area of good land not yet 
under the plow, the unexploited, but extensi\'e, under- 
ground waters available by pumping from practicable 
depths, and the doubling of the duty of our present 
supplyof water, which is entirely practicable through- 
out the West. This increase in duty is dependent as 
much upon more scientific distributing systems, in- 
volving unifying channels in many cases, as upon the 
application of the water to the crops. 

In Utah and Idaho the present estimated irrigated 
area is 3,250,000 acres and in these two states alone 
there is estimated to be 5,750,000 acres which can 
yet be added to the irrigated area. This means prac- 
tically a doubling of the intensively cropped area, 
with a resultant increase in wealth which will trans- 
form these states. Dry-farming likewise admits of 
\er>- great increase throughout the West if properly 
and scientifically dex'eloped. In dry-farming, extraor- 
dinary care is necessary to prevent the attempt to 
cultivate areas of too limited rainfall or of imperfect 
soil storage possibilities. Properly selected areas 
yield very satisfactory returns and admit of good earn- 
ings if the business is wisely organized and admin- 
istered. 



In the older sections of the West the canals are 
continually being moved higher up, resulting in the 
fuller utilization of large areas. Drainage of water- 
logged lands is assuming immense proportions. For 
instance, there is at present under way in eight coun- 
ties in Utah the redemption of 125,000 acres of land 
by tile drainage. Se\ier and Millard counties have 
each organized their fourth drainage district. The 
drainable land of the West is usually the choicest 
land, very fertile and well located with respect to 
market. 

The range area of the West is continuall}' decreas- 
ing; its carrying capacity, however, need not decrease 
proportionately. The methods of reseeding of grasses, 
rotation system of grazing, and bedding-out herd- 
ing with sheep, practiced by the Forest Service insure 
maximum use of all availal)le plant food. Some 
stock raisers still do not understand the work of the 
Forest Ser\ice and complain at its restrictions, but 
the majority of range users appreciate the benefits 
derived from regulation. Many outside of Forest 
Reserves would like their districts included in reserves. 
A greater yield per acre is the problem confronting 
the grain growers. A yield of IB.G bushels per acre 
for winter wheat throughout parts of the \\'est, which 
is mainly dry-farm grain, and 24.7 bushels per acre 
lor spring wheat, most of which is irrigated, is the 
report obtained from threshing machine records col- 
lected under authority of the U. S. Food Administra- 
tion in 1918. The yield for dry-farms is good, but 
the additional yield under irrigation does not pay for 



UTAH — THE BEEHIVE STATE 



(he cost of the water. In more than half the counties 
of the State, work is being done to standardize the 
wheat crop. Variety tests are used to select varieties 
best adapted to the locality, while pure seed of varie- 
ties adopted is obtained by field selection and from 
seed plots. Swedish Select oats have proved their 
superiority over other oats grown in this area through 
variety tests and are now almost universally accepted 
as the standard variety. Corn for silage is fast 
becoming an important crop. The supply of seed 
adaptable to our many localities of short seasons is 
inadeqiiate. Some of these localities are solving the 
problem by local seed selection. 

Sugar beets planted thi^ year will greatly exceed 
previous acreages. The a\erage yield of 12'/4 tons 
per acre in Utah, in 1918, surpassed the yield of any 
other state and exceeded the average yield for the 
United States by 2% tons. The growing of sugar 
beets has raised the plans of farming in every section 
where they have been introduced. Farmers recognize 
beets as an important and staple crop. A new incen- 
tive to beet culture has recently been added through 
the use of beet top silage. The pit silos used are 
inexpensive; the big item is the labor required to 
put the tops in the silo at the same time the beet 
crop is being harvested. Results from feeding this 
silage to cattle and sheep in combination with protein 



feeds indicate that a far greater value is obtained out 
of the tops by this method of preserving than is 
obtained by pasturing off as has been commonly 
practiced. Among other crops, potatoes are receiv- 
ing considerable attention in the matter of seed selec- 
tion. The returns from canning crops are making 
them profitable in favorable localities, hi the fruit 
sections young orchards are being set out. Demands 
for trees exceed the supplies of the nurseries. 

Crop pests are being brought under control by 
cultural methods and the use of poison. The saving 
of crops and range grass through the proper use of 
strychnine in killing rodents will amount to many 
thousands of dollars. Grasshoppers have been killed 
with arsenic. Confidence in this control method has 
been established and the people no longer fear total 
loss of crops from grasshoppers. 

The range cattle of the West have been improved 
by the greater use of pure-bred bulls. In many sec- 
tions the forestry ofificials and range users, through 
their grazing associations, co-operate in upholding 
this practice. There remains yet, however, consider- 
able need for improving the quality of Western range 
cattle. Fattening cattle for market is becoming an 
established industry in several sections and could 
profitably be extended to other localities. Feeding 
first centers around sugar factories because of more 




Vast Wheat Fields Lie under the Shadow of the Towering Wasatch Range 

4 



U. S. RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION 



economical gains connected with feeding beet pulp 
and syrup. Range sheep will no doubt decrease in 
the West, but this loss may be made up in part by 
sheep on the farm. During 1918 farm flocks were 
increased in Utah alone by 13,000 head. Lamb feed- 
ing for the fat market is furnishing a good local market 
for many feeder lambs and is netting profit to the 
careful feeder. Dairying in established dairy sections 
is improving in grade of stock and in dairy equipment. 
Outside of these sections dairying is giving way to 
other branches of live stock which are more profitable. 
Better stock and simple but sanitary equipment should 
make dairying profitable in the West, which imports 
many million dollars worth of dairy products annually. 
The high price of hogs for the past two years has 
greatly increased their numbers and has made it profit- 
able to raise them where pasture could be included in 
their ration. A new feature connected with the hog 
industry is that of co-operative marketing, which has 



beginning has been made, which points towards devel- 
opment of co-operative live stock shipping associations. 

Farm poultry is generally neglected in the West, 
but there is no question that a little investment in 
equipment and labor would return big dividends. 
The time is coming soon when the mountain states 
will not only supply their own requirements, which 
amount to several millions of dollars per year, but 
will become an important national center for the 
distribution of poultry and poultry products. Ideal 
conditions of climate, native feeds, and freedom from 
disease, insure a great increase in the poultry industry 
in the near future. 

In the national rebuilding which is to follow the 
war, which in the West, untouched physically as it 
was by the great conflict, means new building, the 
intermountain states will do a large share toward 
supplying homes for the many thousands who have 
been awakened by the calamities of the last four years 




Utah Ranch Horiu- m the Escalante Valley 



been fostered by the farm bureau organizations. 
Shipping days were appointed, fat hogs were brought 
in from ten or twenty farms to make a carload, 
which was sent to market. The proceeds minus 
actual e.xpenses were turned over to the owners of the 
hogs. A gain was always realized over the prices of the 
local buyers. Often this difference was several cents per 
pound. Under this method of marketing, the hog 
raiser knows he gets all there is in the hogs and is 
encouraged to continue in the business. Under the 
old method of selling to the country buyer there is 
always the suspicion that the buyer makes as much 
as the producer. That this suspicion is not entirely 
groundless is evidenced by the statement in the 
monthly crop report for September 1918, that for 
the years 1913 to 1918 the farmer received thirty- 
eight per cent of the retail price of his hogs. A good 



and will not be content again to live the closed-in 
lives which the congested centers impose. The lands 
of the great West will call many thousands of these, 
soldiers and civilians alike, and will insure to the 
hardy and superior among them opportunities which 
will lead to competence. And the West will offer 
to them a citizenship which is coming to be recognized 
as outstanding in the cleanness and vigor of its democ- 
racy and in its downright Americanism. 

Pertinent Facts on Utah 

THE prime wealth of Utah is her marvelously 
rich soil, washed down, through countless 
centuries, in large measure, from mountains of 
limestone, which impart to the soil the necessary 
chemical reaction for the best growth of plants. 



UTAH THE BEEHIVE STATE 



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One of Utah's Heavyweights 

Magic is the word which describes the prochictixity 
of the 22,000,000 acres of land capable of ciiiti\ation 
within the State. 

The greatest crop grown, and a crop basic to pros- 
perity, is alfalfa, or lucern, as it is sometimes called. 
Wherever alfalfa grows in abundance prosperity 
reigns, because this great forage makes possilile an 
animal industry and consequent diversified and per- 
manently prosperous agriculture not possible without 
alfalfa. In the yields per acre of alfalfa over the last 
forty-five years, Utah, with its three neighboring 
states, has led all other states in the Union. 

In the production of barley, the great fattener for 
cattle and hogs, the yield in Utah for 1912 and 1913 
was 45 and 38.5 bushels per acre respectively. Utah 
is increasing in corn production year by year, and 
ranks with recognized corn states in yield per acre 
— 34 bushels. In wheat Utah is up with leading 
wheat states. In potato production Utah led by ten 
bushels per acre her nearest ri\al, which was Idaho, 
Utah producing the enormous a\'erage of 180 bushels 
per acre. In sugar-beet production she likewise leads. 

Such figures prove, beyond all else, the wonderful 
fertility of lltah soil, whose richness has not been 
appreciably diminished by a half century of cultiva- 
tion and whose millions of \'irgin acres are yet stored 
with their original great wealth. 

Such rich soil presumes in the not distant future 
that more intensive cultivation will be practiced than 
at present prevails. This intensive cultivation will be 
along the lines of fruit production, for which already 
the State is famous, potato and beet production, and 
more particularly in dairying and in beef and hog 



raising. These lines of production are the greatest 
re\-enue producers in agriculture. 

Live-Stock Farming 

Utah is most excellently adapted to farming, 
which includes the raising of hogs, cattle and sheep. 
Added to the natural advantages which the State 
possesses in its abundant yields of alfalfa and barley, 
I'tah has a bounteous range, which, in conjunction 
with the farm forage and grains, pro\ides an oppor- 
tunity' for the production of the finest quality of beef, 
pork and mutton at low cost. Utah is becoming more 
and more, as her wonderful resources in this connec- 
tion are established, a live-stock State. Over .130,000,- 
000 is already invested in live stock in Utah, and with 
proper correlation of the excellent ranges of the State, 
with farm fattening of animals, this investment may 
undoubtedly be doubled within the next decade. 

There is a world shortage of meat. The farm fat- 
tening of stock has, therefore, become a very profit- 
able industry, due to the high price of meat and 
the constant demand for more to feed the hungry 
millions. 

Dairying 

Dair\ing is the most profitable of the larger branches 
of agriculture. It affords at the same time an oppor- 
tunity for di\'ersified farming, home building and 
permanent soil fertility, which makes it a prime busi- 
ness of state to develop this world-old art and science. 
Utah's record in alfalfa and corn and barley produc- 
tion makes her a model dairy State. The unexcelled 
climatic conditions of the State make disease a com- 




Utah's Dairy Herds Contain Many Splendid 
Specimens 



U. S. RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION 



parative rarity among animals. With comparatively 
little effort the dairy cow may be kept healthy, a con- 
dition hard of attainment in the low humid areas. 
Silos by the hundreds are being built in the State, 
the silage affording a succulent winter feed for cows 
and other stock, which, in combination with alfalfa 
as a succulent summer and dry winter feed, gives 
absolutely a perfect ration for cattle. Silos will be- 
come as common on I'tah farms as granaries, because 
silage will be used not only in dairying, but as feed 
for horses and sheep. Utah has become noted as a 
dairy State. In the next few years she will double or 
treble her output of cheese, butter, and condensed 
milk products. 

_Dairying should go hand in hand with sugar beet 
raising, potato raising, hog raising and fruit culture. 
Thus is insured constant soil fertility, constant high 
income for the useful labor of the boys and men of 
the family. 

Poultry 

Poultry raising in Utah is in its infancy. The State 
produces annually approximately $1,000,000 in poul- 
try products. It is estimated that more than $1,000,- 
000 worth of poultry products are annually shipped 
into the State. Yet Utah is probably the most per- 
fectly adapted poultry-raising State' in the Union. 



This is the often stated opinion of the leading experts 
of such great poultry states as California, Oregon and 
Iowa. The climate, at once ideal for egg production 
and for the health of the flock, cannot be excelled. 
The dry mountain slopes afford a perfect bedding 
ground. The natural feeds are all here, and the mar- 
ket always has and always will pay highly for eggs 
and the other products of poultry farming. The 
market within the State is such that Utah can more 
than double her output before she need ship outside 
the State. The profits are high in poultry farming, 
and the industry is such that women often find the 
keenest pleasure in such pursuits. 

The Crops Under Irrigation 

Orcharding is one of the fundamental agricultural 
successes of Utah. A high, dry air, a rich, well-drained 
soil, and a perfect summer season, which brings to the 
fruit color, texture and size unattainable in the humid 
areas, Utah easily produces as perfect a peach, apple, 
cherry and grape as the world knows. Her fruit brings 
in all competitions the highest awards. The smaller 
bush fruits thrive exceptionally well in Utah, the State 
supplying the main markets of the inter-mountain 
country in this regard. 

Sugar beets, potatoes, celery and onions from Utah 
lead in quality and general excellent uniformitv. 





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Utah's hields Produce "Some Melons' 



UTAH— THE BEEHIVE STATE 



Many of the eastern valleys in the Uintah Basin, in 
Carbon and Emery counties, and in Salt Lake, Weber, 
Davis, San Pete and Sevier counties, have a soil most 
excellently adapted to the growing of these crops. 
The champion potato grower of the United States for 
1913 was a Utah boy, who matured over 700 bushels 
of potatoes per acre on such soil as is represented by 
many thousands of acres in the counties named above. 

Dry-Farming in Utah 

The possible dry-farming area of the State com- 
prises all that area not under irrigation and recei\'ing 
more than ten inches of rainfall per year. Any area 
which receives more than ten inches, and whose soil 
is of sufficient uniformity — and there are millions of 
such acres in Utah — capable of being stored with 
sufficient precipitation, may be dry-farmed success- 
fully. Dry-farming has been practiced in Utah for 
over half a century, Utah being the pioneer in dry- 
farming as in irrigation, yetdry-farming today is devel- 
oping as never before. It is probable that 1,000,000 
acres are now dry-farmed in Utah. The main crop is 
wheat, which yields from twenty to twenty-five bushels 
per acre on the average. Many sections more than 
double this yield. Barley, oats, rye and alfalfa (espe- 
cially for seed) are also successful dry-farm crops. Pota- 
toes and other fodder crops have also been found to do 



well under certain conditions. In many places dry- 
farm homesteads can be taken up from the Federal 
Government or purchased from the State at from 
$2.50 to $5.00 per acre. Vast bodies of underground 
water have been found within the last few years to 
underline many of the larger areas of |Utah at from 
twenty to sixty feet. This is now being profitably 
pumped to the surface to supplement dry-farming, and 
even to irrigate extensively. The demonstration of 
the practicability of pumping this water to the sur- 
face is one of the epoch-making events in the agricul- 
tural history of Utah and the West. Undoubtedly 
thousands of farms will be made luxurious homes 
because of this latest step in the onward march to 
conquer the desert. 

Social Life in Utah 

Utah is proud of her great history — one of excep- 
tional achievement against great odds — and she is 
proud of her present position in the sisterhood of 
states. Yet she is looking with greatest faith to the 
future. Ogden and Salt Lake City have both become 
important commercial, industrial and railroad centers. 
The small towns of Utah are developing rapidly, the 
lands are filling up rapidly with men and women of 
all nationalities and creeds. The State is building a 
rural civilization on very high grounds. The lingering 




In a Utah Home Garden 

8 



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RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION 



partisanship of a decade ago has disappeared, and 
Utah today, because of her abundant and relatively 
cheap huids, offers the greatest opportunity iii the 
nation to the prospective home builder. 

State College Aids the Farmer and Housewife 

The Utah Agricultural College, at Logan, and the 
United States Department of Agriculture, operating 
through the Extension Division of the College, are of 
direct service to the farmers and housewives of the 
State. County farm advisers or demonstrators are 
employed, by co-operative agreement with the coun- 
ties, to visit the farmers on their land and carry to 
them the latest truths in the science and art of agri- 
culture. They are, so to speak, the hired men for all 
the farmers, and not only aid directly, but bring to 
the aid of each farmer who needs it, the advice of the 
College and the United States Department of Agri- 
culture. Women skilled in domestic science and art 
perform a like service for the housewives of the State. 

At the central office, at Logan, the Extension 
Division of the College employs experts in animal 
husbandry, in dairying, in irrigation and drainage, in 
dry-farming, in seed selection and general crops, and 
in home economics, who spend their entire time in 
visiting the farmers of the State who may need help 
in selecting land, buying cattle, building barns, test- 
ing cows, installing modern irrigation or drainage 
systems, in selecting seed or arranging a cropping 
system, testing soil, planning co-operati\e enterprises; 
or housewives who may need aid in planning a home, 
planning a kitchen, in economizing in dress or food, 
in selecting labor-saving devices, in home canning of 
fruits and vegetables, and in guarding the health and 
well-being of the children or other members of the 
family. 

Any community or group of farmers or housewives 
who need the instruction of these specialists may ob- 
tain it by writing to the Extension Division, LItah 
Agricultural College, Logan. 

How to Secure Land in Utah 

Land may be acquired in Ltah in one of three ways: 

(1) From private owners. 

(2) From the United States. 

(3) From the State of Utah. 

The State Board of Land Commissioners announce 
the following: 

"Land can be had in either of these three ways. 
Land and water rights can be bought at various prices, 
depending on location, soil, kind of crops raised, water 
rights, etc. 

"Homestead and desert entries may be filed at the 
United States Land Oiifice in Salt Lake City, on any 
non-mineral, unappropriated surveyed lands, and in 



some localities 320 acres may be taken without actual 
residence, provided cultivation by dry-farming mcth 
ods is accomplished. 

"Homesteads have been entered in the former 
Uintah Indian Reservation, and the remainder is 
being sold liy the Government through the United 
States Land Office at Vernal, Utah. 

"Mineral entries and locations are made under 
United States mining laws and the laws of Utah. 

"For further information in regard to homesteads, 
etc., write to the above named offices. As to the 
L'nited States Strawberry Valley Reclamation Project, 
inquire of the engineer in charge at Provo, LUah. 

"The State of LItah has land for sale in various 
parts of the State, part of which may not be desirable: 
this refers to land without water rights, being princi- 
pally school sections, of which there are four in each 
surveyed township, 2, 16, 32 and 36. These lands are 
sold at not less than .12. .50 per acre, and no residence 
or cultivation is required. Lands not taken at public 
sales are thereafter open for a[)plication to purchase 
at private sale. 

"The minimum price at which the State sells Ian 1 
outside of the State reservoir projects and Carey Act 
projects, is now $2. .50 per acre, ten per cent with 
application and balance in ten equal annual payments, 
with five per cent interest on deferred amounts, or 
State will accept full pavments at any time. 

"The State does not recommend any tract of land 
(the purchaser must satisfy himself as to its character) 
except under State reservoir projects. The State is 
not now receiving applications to select Government 
lands, except for Carey Act projects. 

"The State will sell lands under State reservoir 
projects of its own at a reasonable figure, and the 
water rights at cost, plus five per cent for the purpose 
of building up the State and benefiting settlers." 

Carey Act Projects 

Under the Carey Act projects, of which there are 
several in the State, a citizen of the United States, 
or one having declared intention, buys the land at .50 
cents per acre from the State, and buv's water right 
from the Carey Act Company. Price may be paid in 
full or in installments. Proof of reclamation and settle- 
ment must be made. 

Private Projects 

There are many privately owned and developed 
projects in the State which have large acreages for 
sale. A statement of the character of soil and other 
conditions on these projects may be obtained from 
the Extension Division of the Utah Agricultural Col- 
lege at Logan. 



BaMWQJ THF. GREAT SALT LAKE 



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: Utah 






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THE valley of the Great Salt Lake includes all 
of the territory- occupying the eastern shores 
of this inland sea. Here lies what may be 
termed the principal demonstration of Utah's 
agricultural possibilities since this valley is, for the 
most part, given over to intensive farming and the 
production of high-grade fruits. 

Historically this section stands alone among the 
developed portions of the Great West, since, on the 
location now occupied by one of Salt Lake Cit\-'s 
great mercantile establishments, the pioneers of 1847 
turned the waters of Cit\- Creek upon the valley's 
thirsty- soil and established the first irrigation opera- 
tions of the Anglo-Saxon race upon this continent. 
From this small beginning have developed the great 
irrigation enterprises that are gradually conquering 
the desert wastes of Western America and bringing 
our millions of arid acres into full fruition. 

Stretching north from L' tab's capital city lie hun- 
dreds of acres devoted to the production of ever\' class 
of fruits and vegetables, with here and there fields given 
over to choice cereals which yield record crops in their 
several types of oroduction. If it is desired to study 
the agricultural possibilities of Utah, the opportunity' 
is offered within a few miles' journey from the state's 
metropolis, for the Salt Lake Valley is an exemplifica- 
tion of the conditions which exist in all the valleys of 
Utah located at the same average altitude. 

From this section is supplied all of the truck garden 
products consumed by Utah's two principal cities. 
Salt Lake and Ogden. There is also produced a con- 
siderable surplus which finds its way to other inter- 
mountain communities, while certain specialties, of 
which celer>- is one, are shipped to points as far east 
as the Mississippi Valley and west to Pacific Coast 



cities. In referring to celer%' it is pertinent to state 
that Utah excels in the quality of this product and 
every crate not needed for home consumption finds 
ready market in other states at the highest prices. In 
fact complaint has been made that Utah's own mar- 
kets frequently suffer a shortage in celer>- from the 
excessive demand of markets both east and west. 

Along the line of celer\- cultivation there are still 
broad opportunities in the Salt Lake Valley and other 
sections of Utah. Wherever lands are fitted for the 
production of celer\', and a proper system of cultiva- 
tion has been followed, the producer has received 
what might be termed fabulous acreage returns and, 
up to the present time there has always been a mar- 
ket shortage in this Utah specialty. An annual reve- 
nue of SLOOO per acre has been frequently recorded. 

Located at accessible points between Salt Lake and 
Ogden, with several important plants at both these 
cities, are canneries capable of handling the large sur- 
plus of fruits and vegetables that is not consumed in 
the daily market routine of the localitN". By means o* 
excellent transportation over both steam and electric 
railroads, and by the best system of highways in the 
State, the grower is brought into close contact with 
these canning plants and the combination of produc- 
tion, transportation and preservation has added 
greatly to the prosperity of the valley. 

There are many acres of Salt Lake \ alley land, at 
present unused or given over to products of low value, 
that could be rendered much more productive if 
planted to vineyards. These are the slopes upon the 
lower foothills which have been declared by Dr. 
Gleason, one of Utah's most practical orchardists and 
the originator of the "Stark Early Elberta Peach," to 
be specially adapted for the production of grapes. 



10 



u 



RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION 



This expert places the possibilities of the vallev in 
grape-growing at thousands of acres and, in discussing 
the conditions surrounding the successful operation of 
the present fruit juice plant, located in the center of 
the valley at Kaysville, says: 

"The fruit juice industry in the Salt Lake Valley, 
while young, is meeting with successful results. The 
only handicap to a broad development of this indus- 
try is the scarcity of grapes. For this there is no ex- 
cuse, as there are thousands of acres, occupying the 
slopes of the valley's foothills, which are specially 
adapted to the growing of grapes equal in quality to 
any produced in America. The land is available for a 
full development of this important industry, while 
both climate and soil are specially adapted to the pro- 
duction of a high quality of fruit." 

From this statement by so well informed an ex- 
pert, it is evident that the hillsides of Salt Lake Val- 
ley rnay be profitably transformed from their present 
condition of meagre production into the vineyard sec- 
tion of the State. This will throw open a new road of 
endeavor to be traveled by the present resident or 
future homeseeker in the valley. 

Another of the valley's specialties is the production 
of seeds. It is well known that seeds grown in the 
higher altitudes are productive of hardier and more 
healthy plants, no matter where they are planted. 
Following this idea, seed testing grounds were estab- 
lished twelve jears ago by the Porter-Walton Com- 
pany in a specially selected location about the center 



of the valley. This was the first industry of its kind 
in the Rocky Mountain region and has met with a 
full measure of success, as it has developed a great 
area devoted to trial grounds, seed farms and nurs- 
eries, the products of which go out to every section of 
the Western States. 

Paralleling the success in vegetable seed production 
and the growing of nursery stock. Salt Lake Valley 
possesses one of the largest plants in the west de- 
voted to the production of flowers and potted plants. 

This is the plant of the Miller Floral Company 
which has constructed at Farmington, known as 
"Utah's Rose City," the largest group of green- 
houses in the West. From this plant, costing upward 
of $150,000, there are shipped annually, to every por- 
tion of the country, thousands of potted plants and 
tons of cut flowers, all the product of this garden spot 
of Utah. ^ 

With the development of present plans, an area of 
valuable bench land, lying along the eastern edge of 
the Salt Lake Valley and between Salt Lake and Og- 
den, will be brought under irrigation by the construc- 
tion of a retaining dam, and accompanying diver- 
sion and distribution systems, in the Weber Canyon 
east of Ogden. By this means the waters of the Weber 
Ri\erwill be carried to a tract of more than thirty-five 
thousand acres, every one of which is (magnificently 
located and possesses productive possibilities equaling 
the already developed sections of the lower valley. 
Here will be established hundreds of farms devoted 




A Floral Greenhouse in the Salt Lake Valley— Largest in the Western States 

11 



UTAH THE BEEHIVE STATE 




nve in 



to intensive production which will provide profit-pro- 
ducing homes for a large number of energetic farmers. 
From these brief statements it is evident that the 
Salt Lake Valley, even though it was the first of Utah's 
areas to be settled and developed, still offers oppor- 
tunities to the homeseeker and presents many decided 
and alluring advantages. 

Tooele Valley 

Stretching south and west from the shores of Great 
Salt Lake, separated from the Salt Lake Valley by 
the Oc|uirrh range of mountains, is another vast valley 
that is taking its place in the development of Utah. 



In the Tooele Valley thousands of acres have al- 
ready been developed and are producing excellent 
crops by means of the dry-farming system. 

At various points in the valley, where water for irri- 
gation is available, large acreages of temperate zone 
fruits have been planted and are now producing ex- 
cellent results. 

The principal towns of the valley are Tooele and 
Grantsville, both of which are surrounded by large 
areas of well tilled and highly productive land de- 
voted to fruits, cereals, vegetables and forage crops. 
Further out in various sections of the valley the dry 
farmer has pioneered his way to success until the val- 
ley is everywhere dotted with productive sections. 

The soil is a sandy loam uniform with depth, con- 
taining a high percentage of phosphorus and an abun- 
dance of limestone; records in the valley for eight years 
show an average annual precipitation of 13.75 inches. 
A number of fall wheats, Gold Coin, Kofod, Red Chaff, 
Lofthouse and Turkey, have produced yields of be- 
tween twenty-se\en and twenty-eight bushels per 
acre without irrigation. 

There still remains a large area of undeveloped land 
which will ultimately be brought under the plow and 
yield its share to the productiveness of the State. 

Tooele Valley adjoins vast cattle and sheep ranges, 
and, in addition, the Wasatch National Forest is open 
to a limited number of sheep and cattle, provided a 
grazing fee be paid. Among applicants for these 
government privileges, the small near-by stock grower 
is given preference. 



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Tomatoes Are One of Utah's Income Producers 

12 



NORTHEASTERN UTAH 




Experimental Farm and Live Stock Station of the 
Utah Agricultural College 

NORTHEASTERN Utah, comprising the coun- 
ties of Weber, Cache, Rich and part of Box 
Elder, has the greatest area of highly devel- 
oped land in Utah, being located so favorably to the 
great watersheds and from the further fact that the 
annual precipitation averages nearly twenty inches. 

There are at present under cultivation in this 
section 182,188 acres of lands, of which 98.458 acres 
are under irrigation and the balance in the dry-farm 
area 

Each year sees more acreage placed under the pre- 
sent and, as well, newly constructed irrigation systems. 
With the aid of the very able ofificials and instructors 
of the Utah Agricultural College, the farmers in this 
section are becoming more proficient in the economical 
use of water, which in the past has been to some extent 
wasted, as well as being a detriment to the lands and 
in some sections, where the waterhog has been allowed 
to operate without interference, the lands have be- 
come waterlogged and in several sections it is now 
necessary to apply the drainage system, which is 
being done with marked success, many acres being 
reclaimed and placed under cultivation. 

This section of Utah is served by the waters from 
Bear, High Creek, Logan, Blacksmith Fork, Ogden 
and Weber rivers, all these streams originate in the 
watersheds of the Wasatch Range of mountains and 
on their way to the Great Salt Lake, into which 
Dead Sea they empty. The pioneers of this section 
diverted their waters into systems of canals and later- 
als, for the thirsty lands with greatest of results; 
however, there is still room for greater development 
in these systems and from more economical use of 
this Nature's gift. 



During the past three years considerable advance 
has been made in the development of underground 
water, the accomplishment is, however, a mere be- 
ginning in comparison with what is to follow. In 
sections now covered by gravity canals, underground 
water in abundance may be had for the irrigation 
of the lower areas, thus releasing the gravity waters 
for extended use on bench lands far removed from 
possible irrigation by pumping. In bringing about 
this later condition, the progress will of necessity be 
slow, since it involves ofttimes the combined interest 
of an entire community, and many times all the inter- 
ests along a whole drainage area. In this class of de- 
velopment public sentiment must first be molded in 




Utah's Sugar Beet Factories Furnish Finishing 
Fodder for Thousands of Beef Cattle 



13 



UTAH THE BEEHIVE STATE 



favor of the organization necessary, then careful sur- 
veys must be made to determine existing rights and 
how best to satisfy them in establishing the new 
system. 

Very favorable results obtain in the dry-farm areas 
of this section, due to the high average annual pre- 
cipitation; the yield of nearly seventeen bushels of 
grain per acre is common, with careful preparation 
of the soil, deep plowing and proper cultivation of 
the growing crops during the dry period there lea\-es 
no question as to the results. Meeting Nature half 
way, in this class of farming, brings the happ>- return 
of 'Reap what you sow.' 

The principal crops of this section of Utah are 
sugar beets, wheat, hay, peas, potatoes, peaches and 
apples as well as heavy returns from dairying and 
live stock raising. 

Being so favorably located as to markets and with 
excellent transportation facilities, the producer is able 
to secure ciuick returns from his labors. 

There are seven sugar factories located in the north- 
eastern part of Utah, manufacturing approximately 
one hundred and twenty-five million pounds of sugar 
yearly, these factories are so favorabh' located in the 
beet raising districts as to permit the beet grower 
to secure beet pulp at low cost, resulting in cheap feed 
for his dairy stock. 



With seventeen flour mills located at Ogden, Utah, 
and north, having capacity of nearly three thousand 
barrels of flour per day makes it an easy market and 
puts the finished Utah products of grain in the run- 
ning. There are also many grain ele\ators being 
constructed for the handling of grain promptly during 
harvest time when the roads are in good condition. 
There is also a great demand on the Pacific coast for 
the dry-farm hard wheat produced in Utah for blend- 
ing purposes with the soft irrigated wheat from the 
Pacific Northwest. This always results in good prices 
obtained for the wheat from Utah. 

Cache Valle>- is the greatest dairying section of 
the State, regardless of the high price of feed. The 
dairymen have made a special study of the feed 
fiuestion, demonstrated by the building of several 
hundred silos, the erection of many sanitary barns, 
the forming of cow testing associations for the pur- 
pose of eliminating the low-producing cow, the impor- 
tation of many pure-bred bulls and cars of high-class 
dairy cows indicates that efforts are being made to 
impro\e the class of live stock and a greater produc- 
tion of dairy products. The average price received 
per pound butter fat for the past year was seventy- 
two cents. There are four condensed milk factories 
located in the valley, and the electric interurban 
operating through the \alley runs a fi\e-car train 




in a i_ laii l\'ac}i tJichard 
14 



u 



S. RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION 



handling the fluid miliv only to these factories, this 
being a great inducement to the dairymen as 
no wagon haul of any great distance is necessary. 
These four milk factories manufactured during 
the past year over six hundred and fift>' thou- 
sand cases of condensed milk valued at approxi- 
mately four million dollars. This figure does 
not represent the total value of dairy products of 
this valley as a great amount of butter and cheese 
IS made as well as the skimmed milk being fed to 
the hogs for pork production. The brands of milk 
produced by the factories are the Sego Lily and 
Bordens, known in nearly every market in the United 
States, and during the war several hundred carloads 
of these brands were exported bv the government. 

Two large meat packing plants, located at Salt Lake 
City and Ogden, make for good market prices for 
killer stock as well. These two bigcities demand a great 
amount of fresh veal which is alwavs to be had in 
this section. With the aid of the various farm bureaus, 
whose agents are always alert in assisting the grower 
not only in the cheap production of marketable stock 
but as well in co-operative shipping and marketing, 
results in very favorable returns to the growers in 
this section. 

The Elberta peaches from Box Elder and Weber 
counties are shipped to all markets, Chicago and 



west, there being over six hundred carloads produced 
each year. Equal with the Elberta peach is the famous 
Utah Jonathan apples as well as many other varieties 
grown in the northeastern section of this State. 

The educational institutions are of the very best 
in any locality, there being located in Cache Valley 
the Utah Agricultural College, The Brigham Young 
College and the conunon and high schools which are 
provided with the highest class of instructors. With 
the favorable transportation facilities at hand the 
farmers' children need not want for proper school- 
ing, as they can go to and from school each day as 
well as rendering aid to the farm each morning "and 
evening. 

At Ogden, Utah, the hub of railroads in Utah, are 
located the L^nion Pacific, Southern Pacific, Oregon 
Short Line, and the Denver & Rio Grande steam roads, 
also the Bamberger Electric and the Utah-Idaho 
Central, the latter two being interurbans with many 
branches, serving the outlying territory with fre- 
quent passenger and freight service. Two of these 
lines .serve the northeastern part of Utah, resulting 
in splendid transportation facilities. 

Climatic conditions are unsurpassed in any section, 
there being four distinct seasons with no bad winds 
nor oppressive heat, neither intolerable cold nor con- 
tmuaily cloudv skv. 




Utah's Corn Fields Are Among Her Leading Assets 
15 



NORTHWESTERN UTAH 




Herd of "White Faces" on Utah*s Range 

THAT portion of agricultural Utah between 
Brigham City, Utah, and Malad, Idaho, lies 
entirely within Box Elder County and embraces 
an area of approximately 450 square miles. 

This territory, served by the Bear and Malad rivers, 
is one of the most favored of Utah's agricultural sec- 
tions, for here the soil is rich, and there is just enough 
moisture and ample irrigation supply, while the cli- 
mate is dry and healthful. The temperatures are not 
severe at any season, moderate conditions in this re- 
spect being the rule and not the exception. Here, the 
variety of crops runs the gamut of agricultural pro- 
duction, including most varieties of fruits, grains, 
vegetables, flowers and trees. The soil is a deep sedi- 
mentary sandy loam, containing all of the elements for 
the most successful production of crops. 

The high mountains which surround Utah's north- 
ern valleys, protect them from sudden and extreme 
changes of weather, so that tornadoes, cyclones and 
blizzards are unknown. 

The climate of northern Utah, during the whole 
year, cannot be excelled. The winters are mild and 
healthful. Solomon voiced its spring time when he 
said, "For lo, the winter is past, the rains are over and 
gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of the 
singing of birds is here, and the voice of the turtle 
dove is heard in the land." The summers are usually 
cool and the night air is always cool and refreshing, 
and the autumn is not to be excelled on the globe, 
beautiful daAS and nights, free from moisture and the 
evenings are delightful for out-of-door amusements. 
This season of the year one sees thousands of stacks 
of hay and grain, cattle and sheep feeding on a "thou- 
sand hills" and barns, cellars and granaries bursting 
from overfulness. 



The principal towns after leaving Brigham City are 
Corinne, Trenionton and Garland. At Garland is 
located the Garland Sugar Factory, which has a pro- 
duction capacity of 1,200 tons of beets per day. 

Tremonton is considered the geometrical center of 
the Bear River Valley and operates extensive canning 
factories, tile and brick plants and cider and vinegar 
factories, etc. There is no virgin land, subject to irri- 
gation, available in this section, but good farms may 
be purchased from large and small holders; while dry- 
farm and grazing lands may be acquired in larger 
tracts by purchase. 

Fruits in this section are raised in large quantities 
and of unexcelled flavor and size. Brigham City 
began to ship cherries by the carload in 1905 and has 
had an increasing market since. Brigham City and 
the Bear River Valley's peaches, pears, plums, grapes, 
apples and prunes are among the best. 

The average grain yields under irrigation are gener- 
ous too, a yield per acre of 75 bushels of oats, 50 
bushels of barley, 60 bushels of wheat, 250 bushels of 
potatoes, 18 tons of sugar beets and 6 tons of alfalfa 
hay being not unusual. 

Mr. John Holmgren, in the year 1904, harvested 
1,500 tons of sugar beets from sixty acres, an average 
of 25 tons to the acre, three acres yielding 38 tons to 
the acre, ten acres, 35 tons to the acre. This is the 
largest crop of commercial sugar beets ever before 
recorded. In the year 1918, Mr. Holmgren harvested 
1,800 tons from 100 acres of land. He received $10 
per ton, or $18,000 from his 100 acres. 

Mr. Tom Lynch, who came to Tremonton in 1904, 
harvested in one year 1,000 bushels of brewing barley 
and 1,235 bushels of oats from a twenty-six-acre field. 



16 



u 



RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION 



Bear River and Cache Valley in Utah equal, if the>- 
do not excel, any other spot on the globe, for the size. 
yield and quality of sugar beets. 

Grazing and Wheat Lands 

In tra\eling westward from the irrigated portion of 
Bear River Valle>' in Box Elder County, a person will 
pass through some splendid grazing and wheat lands, 
and ideal places for stock ranches. This section em- 
braces Blue Creek Valley, Hansel Valley, Curlew 
Valley, Park Valle\- and Grouse Creek Valley. Large 
cattle and sheep ranches, wheat fields, small irrigated 
tracts, springs and creeks greet the tra\eler all along 
the way. Much of this land can be purchased in large 
and small tracts for from .fo.OO per acre upwards. 

New Drainage Tract 

Eleven miles southwest of Brigham and eleven miles 
south of Corinne is located the new North Bay drain- 
age and irrigation project of 20,000 acres. 

This tract of land fronts on the Bear River to the 
north and extends to an arm of the Great Salt Lake, 
running from the North Bay in the direction of Willard. 

At the present time this land is virtually pasture 
land, and has been for the past tw'elve years over- 
flowed by the fresh waters of Bear River and Box Elder 
Creek, during the winter and spring seasons. Formerly 
this land was, also, overflowed by salt water from the 
Great Salt Lake, at intervals of six or seven years, 
following protracted high winds from the southwest. 
The latter overflow resulted in the killing of the grasses 
growing thereon, and the deposit of more or less salt. 
Since the construction of the Lucin Cut-oft, and the 
filling in of the grade, excepting a short interval of 
some hundreds of feet, this land has not been sub- 
merged from the lake proper. It is a well-known fact 
that what is now known as North Ba>' of the lake, or 
the Bear River Arm, has of recent years been trans- 

I -^ 5^*e(S ^ 




formed into a fresh-water lake. This result has Ijeen 
accomplished by the inflow of the flood waters of Bear 
River, which constitute a major portion of the supply 
of Great Salt Lake — the outlet for this fresh-water 
arm being the opening in the Lucin Cut-off embank- 
ment. The freshness of this water is indicated by the 
fact that it freezes over in winter, that fish live in it, 
and by the report of the analysis of samples of the 
water obtained and anaKzed by R. W. Thatcher, 
Chief of the Division of Agricultural Chemistry, I'ni- 
versity of Minnesota. 

The .soil is a river silt, the majority of which is 
classified as a clay loam, with several large areas of 
sandy clay loam. Professor Thatcher reports 30 per 
cent of lime carbonate in the form of small shells, etc., 
which, besides constituting an important element of 
plant fertility, constitutes a relatively coarse aggre- 
gate, which results in the maintenance of proper tilth 
conditions following wetting or irrigation. The soil 
depths, as shown by many borings, indicate uniform 
condition of soil to a depth of sixteen feet. 

The following improvements will form the basis for 
changing this tract of land from pasture and utilizing 
it for general farming and successful intensive culture: 

First: The construction of a substantial dike which 
will effectively prevent overflow from the Bear River, 
Box Elder Creek and the possibility of the rise of the 
lake level which might overflow the lower areas. 

Second : The installation of a complete and effective 
tile drainage system, based on the experience in the 
Bear River and Cache valleys on similar lands. 

Third: The construction and installation of an 
irrigation plant, providing for the lifting of the irriga- 
tion supplies from the Bear River during low-water 
stage, and also a pumping plant for lifting the drain- 
age run-oft" into the lake, the total pumping head of 
which will be approximately fifteen feet as compared 
with eighty feet under many other projects. 




Utah's Northern Valleys Are Dotted with 
Apple Orchards 



Orchards and Meadows Nestle Among 
Utah's Foothills 




18 



11 



UTAH— THE BEEHIVE STATE 



Fourth: The construction of suitable farm roads, 
and the providing of cuHnary waters, either through 
filtration of the Bear River water or piping such a 
supply from Box Elder Canyon. 

The cost of these improvements will be approxi- 
mately .155 per acre, with an annual maintenance 
charge of from $2.50 to $3.00 per acre, making the total 
cost of the land and improvements range from $70 to 
$90 per acre, depending upon the choice of location. 

Arrangements are being perfected whereby pur- 
chasers may be given from ten to twenty years to 
make the payments on these lands, with reasonable 
rates of interest. 

A community center will be established providing 
all of the comforts and convenience of a modern agri- 
cultural town. 

As an indication of what can be accomplished by 
the improvements briefly mentioned above, a brief 
resume of the results obtained under similar condi- 
tions, both in the State of Utah and elsewhere, follows: 

Professor Thatcher's reports of water and soils 
analyses made in 1914, are emphatic in the statement 
that these lands will produce paying crops immediately 
following the installation of tile drainage and irriga- 
tion by the waters of the Bear River and North Bay. 
That the salt has been practically eliminated by fre- 
quent overflows of fresh water, and that the waters of 
the bay are and will be suitable for irrigation. 

Lower portions of Cache Valley were diked and 
drained in 1916 under identical conditions with those 



prevailing here. These lands are devoted to general 
farming and intensive cultivation, and transfers of 
improved lands have been made on the basis of $300 
per acre, following demonstrated results. 

The section just across the river from this tract, 
which has been tile-drained within the last four years, 
is now one of the best beet-producing sections in the 
valley or state. 

The very successful results obtained by the diking 
and draining the Sacramento River Lowlands, with 
land prices ranging from $300 to .1500 per acre, are an 
indication of what can be accomplished here. 

Going farther away, reference may be made to the 
common practice of diking and draining the lands 
formerly submerged by the Zuider Zee in Holland. 
The Holland Government is now proceeding with the 
construction of an immense dike, which will be 100 
feet high in the deepest portion, for the further utiliza- 
tion of the lands now under water, and covered by the 
balance of the Zuider Zee. It is estimated that this 
dike will cost $50,000,000, and that the construction 
will take fifteen years. 

There are excellent school facilities now provided 
in the city of Brigham, with its first-class districts and 
High School, and the County Board of Education 
provides transportation for school children within a 
radius of twenty miles of Brigham. 

The principle of co-operation is to prevail as far as 
possible in the management of the project. On this 
basis, all land and water rights will be sold at prices rang- 
ing from $14 to $35 per acre on long term payments. 





Utah's Grain Fields Are Wonderful Producers 
20 



VALLEYS OF CENTRAL UTAH 





A Priisperous d'rntr of th^: Vbih \''iU'y 

THE territory between Salt Lake and Payson, 
a distance of sixty-seven miles, embraces, rough- 
ly, Salt Lake and Utah counties and contains 
3,190 square miles, or 2,041,792 acres. Utah County 
ranking sixteenth and Salt Lake twenty-fourth as to 
relative size in area and Salt Lake County first and Utah 
County second as to population of counties in the State. 

Character of Land 

This territory lies at an elevation exceeding four 
thousand feet above sea level and consists of liroad, 
elevated plateaus, cut by narrow stream valleys and 
lies entirely within the Great Basin region. 

Climate and Soil 

The normal annual precipitation ranges from five 
to ten inches. Irrigation is practiced throughout both 
counties. 

The climate is known as continental climate and 
is not subject to wide extremes throughout the day 
or year. 

The temperature averages forty-nine degrees for the 
year. The coldest month is January, with a mean 
temperature of twenty-seven, and the hottest month 
is July, with an average temperature of 71.2. 

Health reports of the Government show an average 

ieath rate of 10.8 per thousand, while the av-erage 

4eath rate for the whole country is more than fifteen 

oer thousand. 

The soils have been formed by the action of a pre- 

istoric lake, which formerly covered the whole of 

/hich is now known as the Great Basin. The wash- 

'ngs from the mountains were carried down into the 

"^e by the rivers and distributed over the lake bot- 

is to form the soils of the present day. Their 

er layers, to a depth of forty and fifty feet, are 



almost as fertile as the surface soils. The high 
plateau soils and sub-soils are also of remarkable 
depth and fertility. 

Present Development 

This territory has under cultivation over 300,000 
acres of farm land ; the assessed value of which is over 
.!;20,000,()U0. 

The most important industry is agriculture — the 
soil and climate allow for great variation of crops, 
and any temperate climate product can be grown. 

The irrigation system is well developed, so that 
there is very little land that cannot be well watered. 

Besides the rivers and creeks coming from the 
mountains and giving life to the farms directly under 
their course, three large projects have been launched 
recently which irrigate approximately 200,000 acres. 

The Strawberry Project covers about 75,000 acres 
of land in the southern end of Utah County. The 
water of the Strawberry River has been diverted 
from its river bed into a large artificial lake, formed 
by a dam across the narrows of the original course. 
250,000 acre-feet of water is stored in this lake. A 
four-mile tunnel through a mountain brings the water 
from the lake into Diamond Fork, from where it is 
brought to the mouth of Spanish Fork Canyon. From 
here a high-line canal carries the water to the various 
laterals of the irrigation .system. The Strawberry 
Project is one of the largest irrigation projects under- 
taken by the Federal Government, and is adding 
millions of wealth to this community. 

The Provo Reservoir Company furnishes water for 
the irrigation of the northern portion of this territory. 
Its chief supply of water is obtained from artificial 
lakes at the headwaters of the Provo River. 



21 



UTAH — THE BEEHIVE STATE 



Another important irrigation project is that of 
pumping water out of Utah Lake by electric pumps 
and sending it to land which is too high to be reached 
by ordinary irrigation canals. 

Through the efforts of the County Agriculturist 
and County Horticulturist much has been accom- 
plished by organizing the farmers into local farm 
bureaus. These organizations have increased the pur- 
chase of pure-bred live stock, encouraged the building 
of silos, made co-operative purchases of seed oats, 
seed potatoes, fruit containers, etc., saving the farmers 
hundreds of dollars. 

This territory has no peer in the West in fruit 
raising. At the State Fair during the past five years 
more prizes have been awarded Utah County than 
all other counties combined. 

Peaches constitute the principal fruit crop; the 
average crop being over 500 carloads. Apples 250 
carloads and approximately 150 cars of smaller fruits. 

The production of alfalfa hay and sugar beets is 
ver\' heavy in Salt Lake County. The average pro- 
duction of these commodities in this territory is 2 '2 
tons of hay per acre and twelve tons of sugar beets 
per acre. 

The dairying industry has had a remarkable growth 
in the past few years. The market for dairy products 
has kept pace with the increased feed costs. 



The progress of the dairying industry is indicated 
by the importation of pure-bred animals, the erection 
of sanitary barns and the improved quality of dairy 
products.. 

The live-stock industry is an important one in this 
territory; it being peculiarly adapted to raising live 
stock of various classes. An abundance of nutritious 
feed is available on the mountain sides and plateaus 
during the summer and the winters may be spent in 
the lower valleys and basins. 

It is estimated that this territory has thirty-five 
head of live stock per square mile and 7.6 head per 
capita. 

Agricultural Possibilities 

The leading field crops, in the order of their impor- 
tance as judged by value, are hay, wheat, oats, pota- 
toes and barley-. 

The average yield per acre of the principal crops 
is as follows: Hay 214 tons, corn 23 bushels, oats 
39 bushels, wheat 22 bushels, barley 33 bushels, and 
potatoes 1(59 bushels 

The orchards yield from $250 to $600 per acre in 
good fruit seasons. 

This territory, with its ideal climate and scenic 
beauty, offers special inducement to the homeseeker. 
Nestled in the midst of that section where the 




Fruit Orchard under the Shadow of Snow-Capped Mount Timpanogos, Utah Valley 

22 



u 



RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION 



Wasatch Range of the Rocky Mountains reaches the 
chmax of its grandeur, it appeals strongly to people 
who lo\'e nature. Here is situated Utah's most famous 
mountain, Mt. Timpanogos, with its magnificent and 
majestic summit towering above the eternal glacier. 

In the center of the valley, glistening in the rays 
of the sun like a gem, lies Utah Lake, the largest fresh 
water lake in I'tah and the second in size west of the 
Mississippi River, covering an area of about 100 
scjuare miles, appealing strongly to the pleasure-seeker, 
with ideal bathing, good fishing and hunting. 

Withal Salt Lake and Utah counties, blessed with 
many natural advantages, which insure future devel- 
opment, nia\- Well l>e called the Land of Opportunity. 

Juab County and Nephi Valley 

To the south of the L'tah \'alle\-, and occupying the 
eastern section of Juab County, lies the Valley of Ne- 
phi, which may properly be termed the birth place of 
the dry-farming idea in LItah. Here, on a great mesa, 
known as the Levan ridge, were carried on the first 
successful e.xperiments in this method of cultivation, 
and from this lieginning the idea has spread over many 
counties of the State. Locally the dry-farm s\stem 
has been the means of de\eloping a vast area of land 
which is being constanth' increased. 

In the vicinity of Nephi, the county seat and prin- 
cipal city, are located 30,000 acres of irrigated land, 
mostly devoted to the production of alfalfa, although 
there is a considerable acreage that is producing an 
exceptionally high quality of fruit. Nephi \'alle\' is 
specially noted for the size and quality of its peaches, 
while its apples and other types of temperate zone 
fruits are of the highest grade. The fruit orchards are 
gradually making inroads on the older alfalfa fields, 



while, by causing the supply of irrigation water to 
perform its full duty, the cultivated acreage is being 
materially increased . 

Plans are nf)w under consideration for the bringing 
of an increased suii[:)ly of irrigation water to the valley 
which will greatl}- ad\ance its j^roduction. 

Several smaller \alleys west of Nephi are supplied 
with moderate amounts of water from wells and 
>prings, and there irrigation has done its service, while 
in other valleys the dry-farm system is successfully 
followed. In the western end of the county dry-farm- 
ing has taken a firm hold and added thousands of 
acres to Juab County's producing area. 

Referring to Juab County soils an expert of the 
Department of Agriculture says: 

"Possessing a high water-holding capacity and be- 
ing, like most L^tah soils, exceptionally deep and fer- 
tile, the soils of east Juab County, which are quite 
typical of all of the soils in the county, are properly 
adapted to dr\-farming. 

"We might say that the soils of Juab County were 
'made' for dry-farming. Being of a clay nature they 
are truly 'heavy' but, despite that fact, they are 
comparatively easy to handle; they are very rich and, 
liecause of the small soil particles, with their high 
water-holding capacit\', conservation of moisture is 
not a difficult task." 

Stock raising is one of Juab County's leading in- 
dustries, her mountains being capable of sustaining 
thousands of head, which condition is being made 
splendid use of by some of the State's leading stockmen . 

This county has also been noted for its production 
of metals, the Tin tic District being among the best 
known in the inter-mountain country. 




«»-^#>«»S»' . 



Dry Farming Has Been Successful in Utah 
23 




Green River Supplies Jl'ti/ 
of Eiisierjt Utah 

THIS district comprises a number of agricul- 
tural sections separated from each other by 
large areas of rolling grazing lands covered 
with grass, sagebrush and other native shrubs. One 
of the most conspicuous of these grazing areas is 
the San Rafael, in the southwestern portion of this 
eastern Utah district. Here are millions of acres that 
for decades ha\e afforded desirable winter grazing to 
the stockman. The principal agricultural areas of 
eastern Utah are discussed in their respective groups. 

Moab District 

This tlistrict receives its irrigation waters from the 
Grand Ri\er, which has an abundant supply, and this 
is the last district that can make any economic use 
of the waters of this river. After leaving this district 
the Grand enters canyon stretches, joins the Green to 
form the Colorado River and their waters are not 
available for use anywhere else in the State. 

Some eleven thousand acres of farm lands are 
irrigated in the Moab district; the soil of good depth, 
shading from a clay loam to a sandy loam type. It 
is indeed most productive. Good crops of wheat, 
corn, barley, alfalfa, potatoes, fruit and garden vege- 
tables are being successfully grown under irrigation. 
Stock raising is the leading industry of the district. 
The headquarters of the La Salle National Forest is 
at Moab. This forest area is to the east and south 
where some 20,000 cattle and 40,000 head of sheep are 
grazed in summer and the hay grown in the Moab 
district insures winter feed for all that the forest area 
and the contiguous summer range can well support. 
Here is a farming district well located for general 
farming and stock raising, where developed land, as 
well as sagebrush land, can still be obtained at rea- 
sonable prices, on most desirable terms. 



The chief trading center is Moab, a thriving inland 
town. It is connected by auto stage line with the 
railroad at Thompsons, thirty-eight miles distant. It 
is also on the government-state post road running 
from Thompsons to Monticello and Blanding in 
southeastern Utah. Moab is the county seat of 
Grand County. Moab has an excellent high school 
and commodious church buildings. 

Green River District 

This agricultural district is located on the Green 
River in eastern Utah and on a main line of railroad. 
Here is a well-located agricutural region with a most 
productive soil at an elevation of but little more than 
four thousand feet, where all kinds of deciduous fruits, 
vegetables, grain and alfalfa can be grown. Green 
River carries a greater volume of water than any other 
Utah stream. This district has the last chance to 
make use of the waters of this stream, as below this 
district it slips through a range of hills and, with the 
Grand, forms the Colorado River ninety miles below 
Green River, the trading center of the district. 

While there are at the present between 4,000 and 
5,000 acres irrigated and developed, competent engi- 
neers have stated that, by proper placing of a substan- 
tial dam across the river, some thirty miles above the 
town of Green River, water can be raised to such a 
level it can be carried by gravity canals to irrigate at 
least 250,000 acres of land. The U. S. Reclamation 
Service has this important project under consideration. 

Green River, the trading center of this district, has 
advantages for the live stock feeder, who can here get 
his grain and hay with abundance of good water to 
"finish" for market. A municipal power plant fur- 
nishes electricity for light, power and heat at mini- 
mum rates. Railway employes at this division point 



24 



U. S. RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION 



insure a substantial pay roll that is an important 
asset to the town. Developments now under way 
demonstrate this district to be one the seeker of a 
good farm home, with most favorable environment, 
may well consider and in\estigate. 

The Price River Region 

This district is most interestingly situated in moun- 
tain environment and also close to one of Utah's 
greatest coal fields — Carbon County and west part 
of Emery County — where several million tons a year 
are mined. This gives an "at home" market for 
meat, dairy, poultry and vegetable products. Here 
is a region with a fertile soil of good depth but of 
\'ery fine texture. Because of its tight, small particle 
texture, one needs to work in humus-\egetable matter 
or manure — lighten it, loosen it up. Then it responds 
with high yields of grain, alfalfa, sugar beets and most 
any crop the settler desires to grow. This soil, to 
give these satisfactory yields, needs judicious irrigation, 
frequent rotation of crops and thorough cultivation. 
Alfalfa seed has become a dependable crop. This 
gives bees a field of operation for the producing of 
high quality honey which is also a staple product of 
this region. High plateaus, bluffs to the northwest, 
north and northeast, temper the rigor of winter. 

Here is an acreage of reasonably priced land, with 
ample water for irrigation; national forest areas and 
ranges, where thousands of cattle and sheep find pas- 
ture, and good well-established communities which 
bid the settler, who comes to help them develop their 
agricultural resources, a hearty welcome and extend 
a cordial spirit of co-operation. The settler finds in 
this region soil, water and climate are such, he can 
make that choice of crops his own personal desires 
ma>- direct. A county agricultural agent is on the 



ground to render such assistance as the newcomer 
may desire to secure, to get the right start in a region 
where the settler desires to and should succeed. 

There are other small districts with agricultural 
lands of a few hundred or a few thousand acres in 
eastern Utah that jiresent opportunities for settlers in 
general farming and live stock raising. 

Southeastern District 

This portion of Utah is but little known outside 
the State. Here are valley settlements that have been 
established for fifty years. These colonies of settlers 
came to river valleys where irrigation farming could 
be practiced. Therefore one can here find well-estab- 
lished prosperous farms. In the extreme southeast 
are the San Juan farms where dry-farming methods, 
faithfully practiced, enable settlers to grow crops with 
the rainfall that comes to this region. 

In the San Pete and upper Sevier valleys in San 
Pete and Sevier counties are found some of the very 
best watered districts of the State. The rich deep 
clay and sandy loam soils of these valleys give depend- 
able crops of grain, forage, alfalfa, potatoes and other 
vegetables. A large tonnage of sugar beets is also 
grown for near-by sugar factories. A branch line of 
railroad traverses these two \alleys connecting with 
the main line at Thistle. 

Eighty per cent of the farm lands are under cultiva- 
tion and cropped with profit. In recent years sheep, 
beef cattle, dairy cows and hogs are utilizing all 
forage and hay crops grown. Finished, instead of 
feeder, stock now is produced. Settlers, fortunate 
enough to secure farms in either of these valleys, come 
into a dexeloped district with good roads, telephones, 
free rural delivery, and with established schools and 
churches. 




"i oung Orchard m Eastern Utah 
25 



UTAH— THE BEEHIVE STATE 



Mt. Pleasant, Spring City, Ephraim, Manti, Gun- 
nison, Salina, Glenwood, Richfield, Elsinore, Monroe 
and Marysvale are commercial centers, well distri- 
buted over these valley districts. Cheese factories 
and creameries have developed an important dairy 
industry. 

Cattle and Sheep Centers of Southern Utah 

South of Marysvale, the present terminus of the 
railroad, extends an area of grazing lands comprising 
many million acres covering a number of counties. 
It is not one level plain, but is rolling and broken into 
plateau mesas, low mountain ridges, where are located 
several national forest areas and, again, unbroken 
grazing areas miles in extent. Portions of these areas 
are used by sheepmen, while other areas afford 
desirable grazing for beef cattle. This makes the live 
stock industry most important in southern lUah. 

There are a number of fertile irrigated \'alleys along 
the numerous streams found in this extensive area. 
These valleys vary in extent from a few thousand to 
many thousand arces, available for crop farming. 
Here can be grown grain, forage, root and fruit crops 
for local consumption. Stockmen furnish a market 
for all hay and other feed crops which these valleys 
produce. Therefore these valleys ofTer opportunities 
for settlement with a good "at home" market for feed 
crops grown. 

Among the desirable trade centers are Junction, 
Circle\ille, Loa, Panguitch, Escalante, Cannonville, 
Glendale, Orderville, Mt. Carmel, Johnson and Kanab. 

San Juan District 

The San Juan district lies in the extreme southeast 
part of the State. It is often spoken of as a region 



of surprises. In the western part of the district are 
some awe-inspiring wonders and scenic spots — yawn- 
ing canyons, natural bridges, prehistoric ruins, the 
Organ Rocks, etc. Here are also mesas of wide ex- 
panse with sagebrush of unusual size, an indication of 
most fertile soil. The district comprises more than 
five million acres and has more undeveloped land than 
any other single district in the intermountain region. 

More than three million acres of land in this district 
is unappropriated. The La Salle Mountains form a 
most important watershed, the source of irrigation 
streams and the storehouse of important commercial 
minerals. Here is afforded most valuable mountain 
pasture land for live stock. Under the direction of 
specialists of the Utah Agricultural College, important 
dry farming work is being done. 

The commercial centers of this district are Bluff, 
Blandin, and Monticello. These are connected with 
each other by a good state and district auto road 
that runs north through Moab to Thompsons on 
the railroad. 

Here is a virgin land awaiting the settler who will 
develop a home in a region where fuel is cheap, timber 
near at hand and the climate all that could be desired. 
Here, as elsewhere in I'tah, alfalfa is the basic crop 
under irrigation and winter wheat under dry-farming 
conditions. Present distance from the railroad renders 
good land comparatively cheap. 

Truly has Dr. E. G. Peterson, President of the 
Agricultural College at Logan, said: "The San Juan 
district of Utah is Nature's playground and the 
stockman's paradise." This district's greatest need 
is general and li\e stock farmers. 




Eastern Utah Produces Immense Crops of Garden Truck 

26 




Among the L'iiitih (Jnnn Fit lis 



THE Uintah Basin is located in Utah and com- 
prises more than fi\e million acres of land. It 
covers the greater portion of Uintah and 
Duchesne counties. To the north are the Uintah Moun- 
tains with peaks rising more than 13,000 feet high. This 
forms a most effective barrier against the severity of 
northern winter winds. To the east and southeast 
are mountainous cliffs. On the west is the Wasatch 
Range of mountains. This great inland basin or 
valley is so surrounded by mountainous walls, one has 
to do vigorous climbing either to get in or go out. 

Character of Land, Soil and Climate 

The Uintah Basin is not one broad level expanse, 
but is undulating and rolling, with buttes, mesas 
(level bench lands) and ri\'er valleys. As one would 
expect, there is also a large \"ariety of soils, ranging 
from the low, fairly heavy bottom land to the rich 
sagebrush-covered mountain loam type, found on 
mesas, hill and mountain sides. This makes it possible 
for a settler to obtain almost any sort of farm or ranch 
he may wish or desire. The character of soil varies 
from clay to sandy loam with a good clay subsoil. 
The depth of soil will satisfy the most exacting settler. 

The altitude of the basin runs from 4,500 to 7,000 
feet elevation. The average annual rainfall, covering 
a period of more than fifteen years, is nine inches. 
The average date of the first killing frost in the fall 
is October 4th. The mean maximiun temperature is 
62 degrees, while the mean minimum temperature 
is 33 degrees. Seldom does the winter temperature 
drop below zero, with a clear, dry air, bracing and 
I invigorating. During the greater portion of the winter 
I the thermometer registers ten to twenty degrees above 



zero. Winter in the basin is comparatively still, with 
a good mantle of snow on the higher lands. For a 
few weeks in the spring there are windy days, but 
it is not troublesome the rest of the year. The summer 
days are not too hot and the summer nights are 
delightfully cool. 

Prof. L. M. Winsor, formerly in charge of irrigation 
investigations for the U. S. Department of Agriculture 
and State of Utah, has this to say of farming in the 
basin and irrigation development and possibilities: 
"Within the Uintah Basin are one million acres avail- 
able for cultivation and more than two million acres 
suitable for stock grazing. Already 245,000 acres of 
crop land has been put under irrigation and 200,000 
additional acres are under project construction. 
Water for irrigation is abundant, as the canal 
systems are fed by several large mountain streams. 
Nowhere in Utah is there a greater abundance 
of irrigation water and nowhere in all the West 
can good farm land be put "under the ditch" at so 
small an expense. There are ricdi farming lands for 
ten times the present population." 

Present Development of the District 

There are now established good trading centers, 
well distributed over the basin. Vernal, Roosevelt, 
Myton, Watson, Duchesne and Jensen are among the 
leading ones. 

The latest statistical report of Utah shows that wheat, 
oats, corn, alfalfa, tame grasses, fruits, potatoes and 
other vegetables are being successfully grown by the 
present settlers. Flouring mills in the valley furnish 
good quality flour from the wheat grown locally. 
The finest quality honey is produced and climatic 
conditions are most fax'orable for bee culture. 



UTAH— THE BEEHIVE STATE 



The leading industry, however, is stock raising. 
There are no large bands of cattle any more, but 
small herds with registered sires have given the basin 
a good quality of beef animals. The National Forest 
areas within the district and a large area of grazing 
lands insure good pasture for live stock in the summer 
and the quantity- of hay grown in the valleys assures 
a wealth of winter feed. Through co-operative ship- 
ping associations, the County Agent of Uintah County 
has encouraged the hog industry. These hogs when 
ready for market are taken by auto truck to Watson 
and loaded on cars and sent to market. Basin farmers 
are calling for a local packing plant to cure their 
meat products for local consumption and outside 
markets. The population of the basin average an 
annual consumption of $100,000 worth of packed 
meats, all shipped in at present. 

Sheep raising is the leading industry. There are 
over 300,000 sheep in the basin. Several creameries 
and a few cheese factories have been developed in 
this district. This gives a home market for butterfat 
and as a result a number of dairy cows have been 
brought in and small home dair>' herds are established. 

Consolidated district schools, high schools in trading 
centers and several academies and private institu- 
tions of learning give good educational privileges to 
the youth of this district. Church societies with 



commodious church Iniildings are found at trade 
centers. Almost unlimited power is found in the 
numerous mountain streams and electric light and 
power are obtained at a nominal cost for all trade 
centers. 

Opportunities for the Homeseeker 

The Uintah Basin district has great natural wealth 
in its millions of dollars worth of hydrocarbons, its 
asphalt, onyx, gilsonite, its copper, lead, iron, anthra- 
cite as well as bituminous coal; thirty-eight per cent 
of Utah's entire forest area, where fire wood, posts, 
poles, building lumber can be obtained for many 
decades to come, are either within the basin or fringe 
on contiguous mountains. A wealth of grass that 
must be seen, to be fully realized, and many thousands 
of acres of rich farm lands awaiting settlers to develop 
it are here found. Land with a dependable water 
right to irrigate same, can be obtained for from $25 
to $50 per acre. 

An auto stage line enters from the west running 
from Helper and Price to Myton and Duchesne. A 
narrow-gauge railroad comes to Watson on the east 
from which an auto stage line runs to Vernal. This 
district's greatest need is homeseekers, for whom it 
has a wealth of land in most pleasing environment 
and to whom it will give a hearty welcome. 




Herd of Utah's Prize-W inning "Pure Breds' 
28 



SOUTHWESTERN UTAH 




The ScTier Hiter Furnif^hes Irrigation for 
Thousands of Thirsty Acrca 

THAT portion of the State known as South- 
western Utah is made up of a series of great 
^-alleys ranging in a northeast and southwest 
direction, bordered upon their eastern edge by 
the towering heights of the Wasatch Mountains and 
upon the west by the ragged peaks that mark the 
lioundary line between Utah and Ne\ada. 

The principal of the valleys are the Pah\ant, occu- 
pying the northern area of the section, the Escalante, 
at the south, with the Milford Valley, in the center, 
and at the lowest altitude. Paralleling these greater 
valleys are many of smaller area, such as the Beaver 
Valley, to the east of Milford, the Buckhorn, Parowan, 
Cedar and Kanarra valleys, east and abreast of the 
Escalante. In all these valleys development has been 
under way since the first settlement of the State. 

First of all came the settlement of those sections 
nearest the [mountains, where the life-giving flow of 
the streams ga\'e possibilities for soil de\'elopment. 
Graduall>- these original settlements were added to 
as new water possibilities were de^•eloped until, with- 
in the last decade, modern methods in the prospecting 
for underground water, and the construction of re- 
tention and distributing systems for the handling of 
the flow of the \arious streams, have given an im- 
petus to rapid development. 

The most important water supply of this section is 
derived from the flow of the Sevier River which, rising 
to the east of the \\'asatch range, flows northward, and 
with a great sweep turns to the west through a break 
in the range, and after reaching the Pahvant Valley 
turns to the south and finds its outlet in a vast sink 
or shallow basin known as the Sevier Lake. 

This river furnishes great supplies of water not 
only to these lands west of the mountains, but it has 



already distributed a goodly portion of its flow to 
lands upon the eastern slope of the range. The Sevier 
is truly one of Utah's greatest assets and, e\en with 
the system of retention and conservation already put 
in operation, there is still a vast amount of water for 
the retention of which no means have yet been es- 
tablished. Nevertheless, the Sevier has, within the 
last few years, added thousands of acres to the culti- 
vated lands of the great Pah\-ant Valley. 

Other water de\elopment has come from the waters 
of the Bea\er River which, rising in the high range, 
flows through Beaver Valley, and thence westward 
into Milford Valley, where it turns northward and, 
after' following the radius of the valley for about 
thirty miles the small remainder of this stream dis- 
tributes itself over a shallow lake bed and disappears. 

Other smaller streams do indi\idual ser\ice to their 
respective sections, their waters being entirely taken 
up and distributed to lands directly adjacent to where 
the water courses emerge from the mountains. 

In dififerent sections of this southwestern area late 
prospecting by means of drills, followed by the instal- 
lation of proper pumping plants, has proven the exis- 
tence of a vast underground supply which will ulti- 
mately provide water for large areas. 

Still more favored sections have discovered greater 
or less flows of artesian water which is doing its por- 
tion toward Utah's development. 

Pahvant Valley 

This great valley possesses approximately an area 
seventy-five miles square bordered on the east by the 
Pahvant Mountains, a spur of the main Wasatch 
range. 



29 



UTAH — THE BEEHIVE STATE 



Several of the communities in the Pah\'ant are 
among the oldest in the State. Fillmore, one of its 
largest towns and the county seat of Millard County, 
was the original capital of Utah. The settlements are 
located in two groups, one group lying at the eastern 
side of the valley and close under the mountains, 
while the second is located at the western side along 
the water-way of the Se\-ier Ri\-er. These groups are 
gradualh- being brought together by the extension of 
dev-elopment and consequent settling up of the inter- 
mediate spaces. 

At the western side of the valley is located one of 
the most extensi\ely developed areas in the State. The 
water for this section is supplied from a great reten- 
tion dam located twenty-five miles higher on the 
Sevier's course. Already this water is supplying irri- 
gation for more than a hundred thousand acres, much 
of which are already de\eloped. A large acreage is 
still open to settlement imder the direction of the 
se\'eral water companies. 

The older projects produce water for the lands ad- 
jacent to the towns of Oasis, Deseret, Abraham, Hinck- 
ley and Leamington, while those installed during the 
last few years are furnishing water to lands around 
Delta, Lynndyl and Oak City. Under the older canals 
most of the land is privately owned, but good farms, 
either fully developed or under development, may be 
purchased at reasonable prices ranging from $100 up- 
wards. 



The newer projects are those of the Delta Land 
and Water Company and the Sevier River Land and 
Water Company. The former serves an area north 
and west of Delta, while the latter's canals follow the 
eastern edge of the valley for a distance of thirty miles. 
Many opportunities for settlers are offered on the 
lands under each of these s>-stems. 

0\'er at the eastern side of the valley a splendid 
artesian belt has been established and the possibilities 
from this source of supply are estimated at more than 
thirty thousand acres. Lands may be purchased in 
this artesian belt either already equipped with wells 
or in their natural condition, the buj-er taking the 
chance of securing water. 

The soil ot the valley varies xronsiderably; the domi- 
nant type is a clay loam, mixed and underlaid with 
sand and clay. 

Excellent water for domestic uses may be reached 
at depth of 150 feet; it runs two per cent lithia, and 
98 per cent pure. 

In the first year of culti\ation Delta irrigated farms 
have yielded per acre, 100 bushels of oats, 50 bushels 
of wheat, 90 bushels of barley; and alfalfa seed has 
produced .?100 per acre, net. On raw land there is a 
record of 2()0 bushels per acre of potatoes, single speci- 
mens weighing two pounds, and the twenty-tons-per- 
acre crops of sugar beets gave inspiration to the man 
who predicted that the region would become "the 
sugar bowl of Utah." That this prediction carries 
possibilities of fulfillment is evidenced by the erection 




Diversion Dam in Southwestern Utah 
30 



u 



S. RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION 



and operation of one of the largest beet sugar plants 
in the inter-mountain country at Delta, and promise 
of a second plant in the eastern section as soon as 
transportation conditions will permit. 

Throughout the entire valley xegetahles thrive won- 
derfulK-; punii)kins, s(]uash, lettuce, radishes, cabbage, 
parsnips, cucumbers, string I)eans, and cantaloupes 
grow with a seeming determination to break records. 

Much of the land along the valley's eastern edge 
will lend itself admirably to fruit growing, and prac- 
tically all of it is suitable for raising large crops of 
cereals, alfalfa, sugar beets and general farm products. 
Experts recommend alfalfa and li\estock asa particu- 
larly remunerati\e cfimbination. 

Milford Valley 

The Aliltord \'alle\' has available land and water 
near markets, schools and churches. It has untold 
mineral wealth, unmeasured and scarcely touched. 

Through a canyon on the east flows the Beaver 
Ri\er, which has for years supported the town of 
lVIiners\ille, <it the mouth of the canyon, and other 
villages along its course. Until a few years ago, how- 
e\er, all its winter and high spring waters ha\'e escaped 
into a desert lake. Fi\e years ago a dam was built at 
the head of the canyon which holds all this valuable 
water back until it can be diverted onto the fertile 
soils for crop raising. There is still some land that 
may be purchased under these canals. This land is 
very fertile, yielding heavily such crops as alfalfa, 
grain, and \egetal)les. At Miners\ille fine fruit is suc- 
cessfully raised. Dairying promises to be especially 
profitable. 

Another section of irrigated land is located further 
down the Beaver Ri\er. This land is famous for the 



production of alfalfa seed. In favorable years alfalfa 
seed is a bonanza crop. This land, h'ing in the l)Ot- 
toms, requires but little irrigating, consequently there 
is nothing to do in raising this crop except to harvest 
and thresh it. In these bottoms the water necessary for 
irrigation can be secured by pumping, as large bodies 
of pure underground water have been found and are 
being developed. The largest town in the valley gets 
its entire supply from this source. Big as the areas 
are, susceptible to irrigation by gravity canals or 
pumping, they are dwarfed in size l)y the areas known 
as dry lands. Between Milford and Black Rock 3.52 
homestead entries, comjirising 1I2,()40 acres, have 
been made. This is only a small portion of the dry 
lands. Without the use of water, rye for forage pur- 
poses is successfully grown, and in the more favorable 
sections wheat, vegetables, potatoes, and melons have 
been produced. To the farmer with a little capital 
and a willingness to become a j)ioneer some excellent 
opportunities are awaiting him in the Milford Valley; 
because, first, all farm lands are near the town of 
Milford, which is an excellent social and educational 
center, aswell as a good buying market. Second, these 
lands lie in close proximity to a good railroad, furn- 
ishing easy access to the East and the West. Third, 
they lie close to several groups of mines which furnish 
a good market, and employment for men and teams 
when not in use on the farms. 

Beaver Valley 

East of the Milford \'alley lies the Beaver Valley, 
with several smaller \-alleys adjacent, all watered by 
the Beaver River and its tributaries. 

Here again is found the richness of soil that marks 
nearlv all of Utah's vallevs. B\- the aid of the waters 




\i^ 




^■^ 



Many Utah Acres Are Devoted to the Production of Alfalfa Seed 

31 



UTAH — THE BEEHIVE STATE 



of the Beaver and smaller streams, development 
of these lands is easy. Beaver, the principal town 
and county seat, is one of the oldest settlements in 
southwestern Utah. 

Much of the better lands are held in pri\'ate owner- 
ship but, like all of Utah, the peoplearejustawakening 
to the proper use of water and thereby increasing 
the area of irrigated lands. This will make room for 
more settlers and furnish added development to this 
productixe \alle\'. 

Escalante Valley 

One of the State's greatest natural subdivisions is 
this broad valley that stretches down into the south- 
western corner of Utah and embraces an area nearly 
a hundred miles long, varying from ten to thirty miles 
wide. 

Down at its southern and higher end, the waters 
of Shoal Creek have been controlled by a retention 
dam and its waters are distribued over a large area of 
fruitful soil. Another irrigation system is planned with 
water brought from the Pine Valley Mountains, which 
will, when successfully completed, water upwards of 
ten thousand acres. 

But the Escalante will eventually be developed from 
the underground waters which flow beneath a large 
portion of its area. Many successful wells have al- 
ready been drilled and put in operation, although the 
definite boundaries of the water-bearing zone have 
not yet been established. Government experts are 
now at work investigating these conditions and pre- 
paring a report on the Escalante's water possibilities. 
Local experts estimate the water-bearing area to in- 
clude 100,000 acres, which will, when established, 
furnish cheap lands and revenue-producing homes for 
a large population. 

The soils of the Escalante are among the richest in 
the State, with possibilities along e\ery line of agricul- 
ture and temperate zone horticulture. At many points 
dry farming has been successfully carried on. 



Cedar Valley 

This is still another section of old Utah with Cedar 
City as its principal town and the market place of Iron 
County. Development in this valley has been by 
gravity irrigation and dry-farming methods. Sheep 
and cattle raising has also added greatly to the 
wealth of this section, the great mountain ranges 
furnishing the highest quality of grazing lands in sum- 
mer, while much winter feed is available on the floors 
of this and adjacent valleys. 

As the name of its county implies. Cedar Valley is 
surrounded by great deposits of iron and coal, none 
of which has, as yet, been fully developed. The 
timber industry is also a large revenue producer. 

Parowan Valley 

Snuggled under the towering Wasatch range lies 
this valley, rich in soils and well watered from moun- 
tain creeks. Parowan also possesses an artesian belt 
which has only been partially established, yet from 
several wells valuable flows are secured. 

North of and adjoining Parowan lies Buckhorn 
Valley, where .there also exists an artesian belt of un- 
known area. This artesian water will ultimately give 
a great increase to the developed lands of both these 
valleys. All of their soils are extremely rich and pro- 
ductive of every class of cereals, vegetables and tem- 
perate zone fruits. 

Parowan, the county seat of Iron County, is the 
principal town. There are heavy cattle interests in 
this section besides considerable lumber industry from 
the mountain forests. 

Kanarra Valley 

This valley, possessing the same characteristics as 
Cedar, adjoins Cedar on the south. Irrigation from 
small streams has brought about the principal develop- 
ment, but many acres have been rendered productive 
by dry-farming methods. 




Where Grain Fields Are Driving Back the Sage 
32 




Utah Possesses a Little Known, but No Less 
Real, Semi-Tropic Section 

UTAH'S "Dixie," as Washington County, in the 
Southwest corner of Utah, is generally termed, 
is a choice spot with long summers, short 
winters, dry, sunny climate and rich soil, where all 
fruits and vegetables of the temperate zone yield 
prolifically and semi-tropical fruits do exceedingly well. 
This applies only to the lower altitudes of Washington 
County, the lands of which should properly be divided 
into two classes, the high and the low. 

The low lands, those having altitudes between 2,400 
and 3,500 feet, on which are located the towns of St. 
George, Santa Clara, Washington, Hurricane, Toquer- 
ville, and La Verkin, are especially adapted to the 
growing of grapes, peaches, almonds, figs, pomegran- 
ates, and other fruits. Fi\e crops of alfalfa are grown 
each season on the low lands. 

The high lands, those above 3,500 feet altitude, pro- 
duce all kinds of small grains and hardy vegetables, 
and excellent crops of apples and small fruits. Dry 
land farming is being successfully pursued on some 
of the high lands, showing a yield of 33 32 bushels of 
wheat per acre. The towns situated on the high lands 
are Enterprise, Pine Valley, New Harmony, Pinto, 
and a new settlement named Central. 

Utah's "Dixie" is included in the Colorado Ri\'er 
basin, lying below the rim of the great basin, and it is 
the lowest section in the State in altitude. 

The water sources of Washington County are the 
Virgin River, Santa Clara Creek, other small creeks 
and numerous springs. The Virgin River runs diago- 
nally across the county from northeast to the south- 
west corners, and near it are the towns of St. George, 
Washington, Virgin, Toquer\ille, Hurricane, La Ver- 



kin, Rockville, Springdale, and some smaller settle- 
ments. The Santa Clara Creek rises near Pine Valley, 
runs southwesterly and empties into the Virgin River 
south of St. (jeorge; on its banks are the settlements 
of Pine Valley, Gunlock, Santa Clara, and a number 
of ranches. 

The region around St. George may be taken as 
typical of the lower class of lands. The soil is of de- 
composed sandstone, forming a sandy loam to a depth 
of fift>' feet. Cotton is grown, ginned and woxen into 
cloth. 

Many of the products of "Dixie" compete success- 
fully against all contestants; the apricots are prize- 
winners and the asparagus acknowledges no superior. 
Elberta peaches attain remarkable size, color and 
flavor, and many farmers are making a specialty of 
that variety. During the National Irrigation Con- 
gress at Sacramento in 1907, Luther Burbank said 
of the "Dixie" peach exhibit: "In all my experience 
I have never seen such a magnificent display of 
peaches." The value of Washington County lands for 
fruit growing cannot be emphasized too stroiigl>'. 
While there are no large commercial orchards on 
account of the flistance to the railway, the road im- 
provement undertaken by the State has matcriallv- 
increased the exportation of fruit. 

A fair estimate of the production of grapes and 
peaches (probably the most profitable crops that can 
be grown in this climate), would be, fresh grapes 
18,000 pounds per acre; raisins, 3,000 pounds per acre; 
fresh peaches, 30,000 pounds per acre; dried peaches, 
5,000 pounds per acre. 

Too much cannot be said for the possibilities of the 
"Dixie" country as a fruit-growing and early garden 



33 



UTAH — THE BEEHIVE STATE 




^ rlJb. •''->■■ '«-^' -'L: -Jl- -'l^ii^?^'*^'' "'■ 





Utah's "Dixie" Possesses Splendid Vineyards 

truck producing section. It is generally conceded that 
no part of the United States can excel it for the quality 
of fresh and dried fruits. 

A large portion of I'tah's "Dixie" is not susceptible 
of cultivation, but is suitable for grazing. The "Arizona 
Strip," which consists of that part of Arizona im- 
mediately south of Utah and north of the Colorado 
River, is naturally utilized by the people of southern 
Utah, as it is a fine grazing country, and this, added 
to the parts of this county unsuitable for cultivation, 
makes profitable the live-stock industry. The sale 
of steers for nearly all of the aforesaid country is 
transacted in Washington and Kane Counties, and 



they are driven from these counties to the railroad for 
shipment. 

On the lands above 3,500 feet, poultry husbandry, 
dairying, cattle and hog raising could not fail to be 
profitable; the long, sunny days, pure air and excellent 
forage invite those pursuits. The "Dixie" National 
Poorest, comprising 460,800 acres, lies within the coun- 
ty. It is estimated that 500 horses, 6,000 head of 
cattle, 20,000 sheep and 1,000,000 pounds of wool are 
shipped annually from this region. The shipping point 
is Modena, on the Salt Lake Route. 

A source of future fame, as well as profit, to the 
county, are the marvelous canyons of the Virgin River. 
St. George, from which they may be reached, has all 
the requirements for becoming the winter resort of the 
inter-mountain region. Those who have seen the 
Grand Canyon of the Colorado, and the great gorge 
of the Yellowstone, need not suppose they have ob- 
served Nature at her best as painter and sculptor. 
The exquisite tracery of Zion Canyon, lately created 
a National Park, the gorgeous ornamentation of the 
towers and temples that fringe its walls, possess a 
grandeur that is literally unique. Imagine a chasm 
as deep as that of the Yellowstone, carved and tinted 
with greater elaboration, and, in places, but fifty feet 
wide. 

Washington County, with the smiling skies and 
fertile soil of the semi-tropics, veined with minerals, 
clothed with forests and gashed by wonderful gorges, 
serenely awaits a future of successful development. 




f'-: 'W^Vx 



^ ■ '4i^^^:iu ^:'':::. 






'••i v^.:!?'-■.v■■■- 



Where Utah Soil and Watti Uniii ui the Production of Immense Cereal Crops 

34 



u 



S. RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION 



This booklet has been compiled under the personal direction of the following 
Representatives of the Railroads operating in Utah '""*»"""S 

Oregon Short Line Railnjad , , , „ • „ 

Denver & Rio Grande Railroad : w h V^"'''K ^°'^' .'.^?'"' 

Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad rSn.^l, w^?''^'^''' f "'"; 

Oregon Short Line Railroad K "^'^^ White Los Angeles, Cal. 

Oregon Short Line Railroad V ' , •• fl^nter. Salt Lake City, Utah 

Southern Pacific Railroad u „•- \?"^''1™V ^^" ^'^^'^ ^■'t>'' '-''ah 

Western Pacific Railroad \i: , ■ ^""t". San Francisco, Cal. 

Union Pacific System ^l Shotvvell. San Francisco, Cal. 

Bamberger Lines , .?. Smith, Omaha, Neb. 

Salt Lake & Utah Railroad h ^ ■ Lowrie, Salt Lake City, Utah 

Utah-Idaho Central Railroad. , w ^iP°"' Salt Lake City, Utah 

J- W^ Ellingson, Odgen, Utah 




Truck Farm in the Salt Lake Va 



ley 



VACATION OUTINGS 
NATIONAL PARKS 

vnrrp v "^^^^ Nation's Playgrounds" 

ot?^'^,Uu:"':^l^r!^n^l^'^^' "^"" "' ^'''''' ^^"^'°"^- ^'^'^--- ^^>---. '-^ '--. volcanoes, prehistoric ruins .,nd 
V.s.t them this summer— for fishing, mountain climbing and "rouehine it " 

t^U^-'ZZ l^r^;! 'aH^^'Z^'f^^'' - X^ionllMonument you are specially interested in. Here 



UTAH THE BEEHIVE STATE 




-vi"**'"'''"'^'^'^^ 



A Clear Demonstration of Utah's Prosperity 



ISSUED BY 



United States Railroad Administration 
AGRICULTURAL SECTION 



J. L. EDWARDS, Manager 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 

FOR THE USE OF ALL RAILROADS 
IN THE STATE OF UTAH 

For Further Information, address 



POOLE BROS. CHICAOO 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



''"W'lWIItllllllJIJilJillJIIillilJlJllll 
003 220 648 7 



